Ireland Tests ‘highly unlikely’

SYDNEY: Rugby Australia admitted on Monday that July’s Tests against Ireland were looking “highly unlikely” while expressing confidence that all four of the country’s Super Rugby teams could survive the coronavirus shutdown.

The Wallabies are due to face the Irish in Brisbane on July 4 and then at Sydney a week later, before they take on Fiji in Townsville later in the month.

But all three games are in serious doubt with Australia’s borders currently closed to everyone but citizens and permanent residents to combat the spread of COVID-19.“The July Test matches are looking less and less likely as the days go by,” said Rugby Australia chief Raelene Castle. “But that will ultimately be a decision made in consultation with World Rugby.

“There will be conversations that will happen from a World Rugby point of view so we can think about if July doesn’t go ahead, which obviously seems highly unlikely now, whether there is football available at the back end of this year.”

If new slots in the calendar could be found later in the year, she suggested the Wallabies could travel to Ireland instead to play the games. Rugby has ground to a halt in Australia, and elsewhere around the world, with the southern hemisphere Super Rugby competition suspended.